The bulb flickered on and off continuously for what seemed like an eternity. The place was dingy and smelled. All the cells in your body screamed for you to flee yet you had been drained of all energy. You looked around the room for the millionth time, your eyes desperate to catch sight of something, anything, that could possibly aid you in any way. The last few months had been messed up. How could things go so horribly wrong? You had been looking forward to a new life, looking forward to being independent, having a new job, so many goddamn things! And yet fate had made you end up in this hellhole, starving and dirty. He could have just killed you but he didn't. And now you might never even understand why. The only answer you ever got to your question was too disturbing to even think about. It only left you feeling more broken.

As if on cue, the rusted metal doors opened and a sudden waft of fresh air filled the room. You would have been grateful for the shift in air if not for the price it came with. It was him. The man who had captured and imprisoned you.

Kim Taehyung.

——————–

5 Months Earlier.

It was as if the heavens themselves had decided to split open and pour a sea of water down to the unsuspecting city. The forecast hadn't warned you of this or maybe you didn't really check properly. You weren't able to function properly in any way these days and you had a certain someone to blame. After going through all the waiting, the day had finally arrived and you decided you weren't missing the opportunity for any reason whatsoever. You got up early in the morning when the sun rays were still tinged with orange and the birds hadn't stopped their chirping even though the event itself was in the evening. You chose your clothes carefully, a fitting shirt worn with an oversized sweater on top with your favorite pair of jeans. The style was casual enough to not show how much effort you put into it but you knew he would like it. You kept your makeup to a minimum, deciding to go for the cute, natural look instead of something bold.

You left home exactly on the time you had decided that would allow you to reach the venue early even after all risks like traffic or delayed buses, calculated. You arrived at the auditorium easily, every step falling into place and found that surprisingly there weren't that many people or 'fans' there. Not many made it in this downpour and the ones that did were dripping wet like you.

The wait began.

You sat there looking around at the other girls gathered there. They looked casual but you knew better, almost guessing their bias by the way they dressed. Some of them reminded you of your friends who couldn't make it and would surely be burning when you finally get to tell them that you did. You giggled at the mischievous thought, making it a point to tell them how good their bias looked and how it was a shame that only you got to see them. In reality though, you had eyes for only one man entirely. It had been years now since you became a fan, laughed at all their silliness and fell in love with that smile. V had always had this radiance around him, innocence in the way his eyes lit up while he played, cuteness in the way he showed possessiveness over his friends like kindergarten kids do and kindness in the way he smiled with warmth at all the ARMYs. A smile came to your lips thinking about his boxy one and you shook your head over the fact of how madly you adored this man.

And today you would meet him.

It's going to be fine, I'll even tell him how I feel, he'll smile when he knows, you thought, trying to calm your racing heart. The sudden sound that rang through the place made you almost jump as you saw a line of all hair colors from blonde to brown making their way to the tables and you knew what it meant. The fansign was starting.

You watched and giggled as the girls before you made their way to talk to the boys and get their signatures to mark the meeting between them. It was finally your turn as you started with the leader who gave you a dimpled smile that made your heart leap. He signed his page and asked you if you had any trouble reaching the venue, etc. You answered first with trembling lips but slowly got comfortable enough to answer softly but sweetly. Moving on to the next member, time seemed to pass both quickly and slowly, you weren't ready to see him yet but you kept finding yourself one step closer. Every once in a while your head turned to glance at V sitting at the end of the table, doing what he always did, playing with fan given gifts and smiling goofily. Jimin caught your gaze once and smiled at how smitten you looked.

Finally, you were in front of him.

You silently opened his page, with a gorgeous picture of him on the other side and your little sticky note with a question written on it.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

You didn't really know why you chose this particular question to ask him but somehow it just felt natural to. You gulped and gathered all your courage to stop your hands from shaking and looked up to steal a glance at him.

————————-

It had been raining since morning, the sky displaying different hues of grey, blue and purple. Taehyung had been surprised at the number of fans that had turned up for the event. It was usually a lot more crowded and almost always noisy but today there seemed to be only the quiet ones present. Given the storms and the chilly weather, it might have been expected. He still decided to give his all and put on a bright smile for the sake of all the ones that had come despite the weather, almost in an effort to show his gratitude. They were all cute and shy, some even bringing him presents and candies. He thought this was going to go smoothly like always until –

Until she showed up.

She was next in line after a particularly flirtatious girl, her dark hair covering one side of her face as she looked down. With slightly shaky hands, she opened his sign-page in the album and he smiled at her bashfulness. It wasn't until she slowly raised her head up to look at him that he was struck with an unfamiliar jolt of something he couldn't really express. Her dark eyes met his even darker ones, ones that hid far more secrets than anyone could guess and he took in her features. She had the eyes of a fearful dear and features that molded together in a way that made him feel like gentleness was the only expression they knew how to express. Her voice was delicate when she suddenly spoke.

"Oppa, is there something on my face?"

"Hehe, no, there isn't." he said, his usual relaxed and easy smile replaced by a slightly nervous one. He didn't really understand the situation but he knew for sure that he was liking it. He lifted his marker and signed the paper effortlessly, debating whether or not to make hearts at the end. Maybe not, he thought, being the shy guy everyone knew him to be. Like always he turned his attention to the note attached to the page, wondering what question would be awaiting him next. He lifted one eyebrow at the question written in soft, curvy handwriting. He did believe in true love but not in love at first sight. Under any other circumstances he would have written "no" but he glanced up to look at you and suddenly the world shifted on its axis.

For some reason that day, Taehyung didn't write a "no".

He simply answered the question with another.

"Do I?"

————————

His head suddenly jolted up to look at you, making you think he had caught you staring, only to have him get back to writing something on the page. You had taken this opportunity to look at is face, stare at the man you loved for never before had you been so close to him. He looked so cute without the usual makeup the band often wore, his hair tousled and falling in his eyes sometimes. You almost wanted to pinch his cheeks wondering how an angelic person like him could exist.

When he was finished filling in the album, he pushed it towards you on the table and when it hit your hands softly because you were too lost in your dreams to catch the album on time, he let out a giggle. The clear and happy sound resonated in your ears and you couldn't help but laugh a little too.
You felt so happy thinking you had shared a moment with him that existed between just the two of you even when the sad reality of gathering your things and leaving now made its way back. You started to get up from your kneeling position when a hand shot to grab your wrist. Your first instinct was to snap your head to stare at Taehyung in awe and then to look at the rest of the table, relieved to see all other members and fans busy with their own things.

"Umm, wait, what is your name?"

"Y/n."

"Y/n, do you think you'll be able to meet me again?"

"You mean if I'll come again, Oppa?" you asked back. As far as you knew, there weren't any more fan signs announced and were not going to be announced anytime soon in the future either. You had barely managed to acquire a pass for this one. "I thought there weren't any more concerts or fanmeets for a while but if there are, I'll try for sure"

"No."

He paused and you waited for him to continue.

"I mean, can you meet me somewhere outside?"

Your eyes widened at the implication. Surely you were hearing wrong or simply hallucinating, there was no way V was asking you out. You still decided to go for it just to test the waters.

"Sure, but where."

"Oh....tomorrow, outside the Bighit headquarters? I'll be taking the Kanaku Street after my work gets over at 5. Is it okay?"

"Yes."

He finally let out a smile at your confirmation and you looked at the ground blushing. This could not be happening, he wouldn't be asking you out, he just saw you, maybe he wanted to ask something. Maybe there was some other reason entirely, maybe he knew you were staring and didn't like it.

Trying to comprehend this whole new chain of events, you didn't notice the dreamy, far-away look on his face as he said "Yeah, see you then."

————————

The next day was thankfully better in terms of weather but the storm inside of you hadn't subsided. Had it really all happened or were you just caught up in your own imagination, unable to distinguish the difference between reality and illusion. But the answer he put to your question proved otherwise. It was neither affirmative nor negative and the suggestiveness of it kept you up all night. The first half of the day also passed by in a haze as you did your daily routine, sometimes stopping completely in whatever you were doing as the thought of seeing him again today crossed your mind. Over time you convinced yourself that it had all been a self-induced illusion, fueled by your mad love for this man. You would surely find the street to be empty of any ridiculously handsome-looking men who called themselves using one-letter words and go for a drink instead just to laugh at your own little adventure.

It was about time to check your theory as the clock announced that it was 4 p.m. and you started to get ready to leave. Checking you had everything and taking some candy with you, just because you were you, you left for Kanaku Street in exact time to reach there at 5. It wasn't a quiet street but wasn't a very busy one either, allowing you to stand and look around, waiting to spot a blonde head among the crowd. Your heart sank when you found none and you were just about to turn when –

"Y/N!!!!"

You could have recognized the voice anywhere. The deep sound still made its way towards you even in this ocean of cars and people. You turn around to look at him jogging towards you, a large scarf hanging from his neck and his hair looking wet at the ends. You blushed hard enough to become a traffic light as he came and stopped right in front of you.

"Hey, you really came." He said, while shaking his head to make a few drops of water spill from his wet hair.

You stepped back, surprised at his sudden timidness. Did he really think you would not come? After he called you? Not knowing what to say, you simply nodded your head at him.

"Thanks, let's go" a sneaky smiled passed his lips, making you narrow your eyes. Why was he so cute?

The two of you walked towards a quieter street and he put on a facemask from there on. You made your way to a little uncrowded park, owing to the fact that it was the rush hour in the evening and people might recognize you. He talked a lot during this time, telling you about the practice and how he had received looks of jealousy from his hyungs once he had told them that he was coming to see you, especially from Jimin whose ideal type resembled you. You found yourself feeling naturally relaxed in his company and felt like he was your friend and not some celebrity. You found a bench at the said park, in front of the kids' playing ground and sat there to spend the remaining time talking as it grew dark.

A few of the kids made eye contact with you and you smiled at them, causing them to smile back until one of the little guys came up to you.

"Noona, you are really pretty."

"Aww, really now? Thank you so much." You smiled at him, both surprised and bursting with happiness at the young lad's comment. "Here, have this as thank you." You took out some candies to give to him.

"I must say I have to agree with you, you have good choice." Taehyung suddenly said, grinning at the boy and you looked at the two males winking at the each other and rolled your eyes playfully. The boy took the candy happily and went back to play.

"Do you like kids?" he asked, turning to you.

"Yes, I do." You said with a small laugh, not taking your eyes off of the playing kids.

Taehyung smiled as he heard your reply and was about to ask more when a sudden sharp pain bolt through his head. His vision became clouded with white spots and his head pulsated, a familiar image burning in his mind. He could not understand why would it suddenly surface now, out of all times, the image of a long-haired woman holding a child in her hands and random visions of blood splattering. He was used to these 'attacks', as he called them, they usually had a trigger and left behind a pain that didn't subside easily once they occurred. Why, why now, he frantically repeated in his mind as he lost all awareness of his surroundings. He was prepared to bear with it when suddenly and almost miraculously, the pain started to fade away.

As he came to, he felt soft, warm arms around him and felt calm again, soaked in a delicate, feminine smell. It felt as if he knew this place, belonged here and his troubled vision desperately started to search for the source of it till his eyes met yours.

That's when it struck him.

It was you.

The pain had stopped as soon as your arms had come around him. You had tears in your eyes and a very concerned look on your face. You must have been worried when you saw him grab his head and grunt in pain. He stared at your face as you tried to talk to him, ask him if he was okay and suddenly the image came back in the back of his mind. Only this time, it was twitching, the woman moving and the image slowly morphing, but you pulled back your arms just before it could complete its evolution. The sudden absence of contact almost made him furious but he noticed that it wasn't just the both of you now. People had gathered to help. But he didn't need any help anymore. He knew he could get rid of the image, of the nightmares and of the pain.

He just needed you.